Heb. 4:12; John 1:1; 1 Cor. 2:11-12; 1 Sam. 3:10

We can praise the Lord that He created us in His image. While this means a lot, one of the key things it reveals is that God made us to be in relationship with Him. And if we are meant for relationship we are meant for connection and communication with Him. Throughout Scripture God speaks to His people, and He is continuing to do so today. Do you hear Him?

Jesus is the Word and the Word is alive and active (John 1:1 & Heb. 4:12). As a result, Jesus, through the empowerment of the Spirit, is alive and active in every believer's life. Jesus is regularly speaking to His followers, but if we are not listening with our spiritual ears we will not hear Him. 

It seems to me there are three ways to help develop our spiritual hearing. First, we need to know God’s voice, by knowing what and how He’s spoken in the past. Reading, meditating and memorizing Scripture is key to us being able to hear what He’s saying. Second, we must listen in prayer. Too often we do all the talking in our prayer times. If all our spiritual ears hear is our spiritual mouth blabbing away, we will never be able to discern the voice of Jesus. But if we want to hone our spiritual listening skills we need to close our mouths. Take 10, 15, 30, or 60 minutes to just sit and listen for the voice of God. Third, write down what we hear. Journal the words, images, ideas, dreams or concepts that pop into our head. While God speaks in a variety of ways, taking note of the things that come into our mind in a time of listening prayer will really help us to begin to hear Him. 

Jesus, I believe You are the alive and active Word of God, and I believe You desire intimate relationship with me. You have given me spiritual ears to hear Your spiritual voice and I ask you to help me hear what You are saying to me. As I get silent before You, speak to me. Let me hear Your voice in a way I can’t deny or explain away. Lord, come and speak, your servant is listening!